‘NEW JAPAN PHOTO - ISSUE 10’

An exhibition featuring emerging contemporary Japanese photographers 

FRI 24 JAN, 2020
EXHIBITION OPENING

FRI 24 JAN / SAT 25 JAN, 2020
QUOZ ARTS FEST

For the fourth consecutive year, CHI-KA, in collaboration with Tokyo-based Einstein Studio, is pleased to host its annual exhibition ‘NEW JAPAN PHOTO - ISSUE 10’, alongside winners of the prestigious ‘JAPAN PHOTO AWARD’.

CHI-KA will host a curated selection of wildly interesting works from the latest NEW JAPAN PHOTO - the catalogue of up and coming Japanese photographers, which aims to connect the photographers to gallerists, collectors, critics and publishers around the world. The selection of 40 original limited edition artist works are reasonably priced at AED210 each (in <A4 format). Acquisition of works is on a first come first served basis.

Shown alongside New Japan Photo works will be larger format images that won the esteemed JAPAN PHOTO AWARD - an annual competition and award bringing together emerging and award-winning Japanese photographers leaving a mark on the contemporary fine art photography scene in Tokyo and beyond. The Award, which started in 2013 by Einstein Studio, is currently the largest photography award in Japan, with over 5000 participants.

This year’s jury members include :

• Charlotte Cotton, Independent curator and writer, who was previously curator of photographs at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and head of programming at The Photographers’ Gallery in London.

• Francesco Tenaglia, Editor in Chief of Mousse Magazine. Contributor: Rolling Stone (IT), Esquire (IT), and more. (@moussemagazine)

• Rita Vitorelli, Artist and Editor of Spike contemporary art magazine (@spike_art_magazine)

• Mutsumi Ota, Editorial Director of IMA (@ima_online)

• Patricia Karallis, Founder and Editor of Paper Journal (@paperjournalmag)

Previously, winners of the Japan Photo Award were acquired by Prada Foundation as well as the Hermès Foundation, held solo exhibitions around the world, were recognized and awarded by Vogue Italia as ‘photo of the year’, graced the covers of international magazines and collaborated with renowned fashion designers like Issey Miyake.

Prices of original artists’ works start at AED160.

The exhibition will also have on display a series of publications by Einstein Studio, featuring a collection of photography introducing Japanese talent, and presented yearly at international art book fairs; Art Book Fair Basel, NY Art Book Fair, Paris Photo, LA Art Book Fair, Stockholm Art Book Fair, and UNSEEN.

The opening of ‘New Japan Photo - Issue 10’ coincides with Alserkal Avenue’s ‘Quoz Arts Fest‘ (Jan 24 & 25, 2020).

‘PAPER SOMMELIER’

An exhibition featuring Echizen Washi Paper 

21 OCT, 2019 (6-9PM)
EXHIBITION OPENING

12-16 NOV, 2019
DUBAI DESIGN WEEK

THE EXHIBITION RUNS UNTIL JAN 5, 2020 

WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE ARE SOURCING ECHIZEN WASHI IN DUBAI FOR YOUR INTERIOUR PROJECTS.

Yoshinao Sugihara, the 10th-generation successor of a traditional paper wholesaler in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture — one of Japan’s most prominent washi-producing areas — has been exploring innovative ways to use washi for the modern age. He has taken the 1500 old traditional craft of Japanese paper making, to entirely new heights.

Known as ’the washi sommelier,’ his expertise lies in selecting the kind of paper and artisan required to manifest the needs of his architect and designer clients. His work has attained international acclaim, won awards and led to his involvement in hundreds of lighting and artwork projects at hotels and restaurants in Japan and overseas. With Sugihara’s vast experience working with a wide network of highly creative craftsmen, designers and artists, the outcomes have been surprising; expressing previously unimagined uses and applications of the Echizen-washi paper form.

Alongside Sugihara’s exhibition, a selection of paper products will also be on display and available for order.

Architects and interiour designers are invited to explore creative opportunities of working with famous Echizen Washi. We have a variety of samples on display and you will be able to place your order directly.

‘EX ORIENTE LUX - A Stone of the Rising Sun’ by Alexia Weill

25 FEB - 25 MARCH, 2019

The exhibition features sculptural stone works by Alexia Weill, who explores the energy of the rising Sun.

The Sun has been a chief conductor of our solar orchestra for more than 4.6 billion years. We rotate at the rate of 1,600 km/h and zip around it at 107,000 km/h.

What is the true nature of Life?
What is Sun’s role in it?
Why has it been central to our quest for higher knowledge?

The exhibition invites us to displace awareness into our stellar nature and feel the pull of solar gravity and its’ strength.

These objects released from stone emanate their earthly evidence and complementary solar origin.
Alexia’s work is a manifestation of Supra-consciousness, revealing our intangible solar symbiosis.

The light comes from the East! or…

Word by the Artist:

For the sculptures present at CHI-KA, I was inspired by the light of the rising Sun. Light in its declinations reveals several rays of inspiration: Sun of the day, Sun of the night, relationship between the Sun and the water, and the Universe.

Inspiration is spontaneous and arises from a dialogue with the mineral kingdom when I am at my studio, in my space of creation.

A sculpture emanates an energy by its wave of form which is circulated in the room where it is. These creations express one of the facets of light emitted by our Sun and notably from the East where symbolically it is revealed first, every day. The symbolism is present in these creations, under different facets that simply must be felt from the energy of each stone: white marble, black basalt, blue granite, yellow limestone.

These impressions are found in the symbolic energy of the circle as perfectly harmonious geometric figure.

About the Artist:

Born in Paris, French-Swiss Alexia Weill is based in Montreux, Switzerland for over a decade. Her late grandfather owned one of the largest art galleries in Paris.
She studied at the Film academy of Paris (ESRA) and at the same time followed drawing and clay sculpture classes at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris.

She exhibited her sculptures in Switzerland, France, Spain, England and New York.
In Switzerland, her sculptures are installed in public gardens in different cities along the Geneva lake.

The artist brings out the spirit of a stone. Before sculpturing each poetic piece, the artist communicates with the raw stone. Each sculpture is a unique work- of-art that irradiates its energy in the weft and invites the elevation by the mineral presence. She prints in stone her emotions, her inner journeys in search of harmony.

She likes to dialogue with the stone which in itself expresses the inner language of our Planet.

‘NEW JAPAN PHOTO - ISSUE 5’ 

26 JAN - 24 MARCH, 2018

Opening on 26 Jan, for Al Quoz Fest

Held in collaboration with edgy Tokyo-based Einstein Studio, CHI-KA presents the opening of 'New Japan Photo - Issue 5'. Showing for the second time in Dubai, the exhibition features emerging and award-winning Japanese photographers leaving a mark on the contemporary fine art photography scene in Tokyo and beyond. CHI-KA will host a curated selection of shortlisted candidate works, as well as recipients of the prestigious Japan Photo Award. The Award, which started in 2013 by Einstein Studio, is currently the largest photography award in Japan, held biannually and involving over 3000 participants. Jury members include established curators and editors, such as Simon Baker (Tate’s Senior Curator of Photography), and Charlotte Cotton (Independant Curator and Writer / former Head of Programming at The Photographers' Gallery, London, and former Curator of Photography at the V&A, London).

Previously, winners of the Japan Photo Award have collaborated with Issey Miyake, held solo exhibitions around the world, and were acquired by Fondazione Prada, La Fondation d'entreprise Hermès, among other respected institutions.

Prices of original artists’ works start at AED160.

The exhibition will also have on display a series of publications by Einstein Studio, featuring a collection of photography introducing Japanese talent, and presented yearly at international art book fairs ; Art Book Fair Basel, NY Art Book Fair, and LA Art Book Fair.

The opening of ‘New Japan Photo - Issue 5’ coincides with Alserkal Avenue’s ‘Quoz Arts Fest‘ (Jan 26 & 27, 2018). The exhibition is also a part of GPP Photo Week 2017 (Feb 7-12, 2018) -

MENA's longest-running international photography festival, organised by Gulf Photo Plus.

DESIGN OF EMOTION

Robotics and the new humanoid paradigm

November 13 - November 27, 2017

In collaboration with Dr. Nikolaos Mavridis
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ideas and realities of artificial intelligence (AI) have been with us for almost a century. More recently we are seeing an expansion of a new kind: the humanoid robot, with Japanese design teams being at the forefront of this r/evolution.

Highly complex, increasingly human-like, emotionally intelligent companions are being designed. These humanoids will be as common as TVs and we will find them contemplating on our Eames loungers sooner than we can imagine.

‘Design has a central role to play in this process, for it is designers who shape the interfaces between humans and machines. Whereas robotics used to be the exclusive domain of engineers and IT experts, today designers are helping to shape the current boom in robotics in key ways. It is they who decide how and where we encounter robots, what kind of relationship we form with them, and how we interact with them – or they with us.’ - #hellorobot

In doing so, they are faced with one of the biggest challenges yet; the design of emotions. Emotions expressed; emotions recognised; in some cases, even emotions shared and controlled. Is it even possible?

At CHI-KA, in collaboration with Dr. Nikolaos Mavridis, PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Director of ‘Interactive Robots and Media Laboratory’ (IRML), and creator of the first Arabic language dialogic robot ‘Ibn Sina,’ we will give visitors a creative, interactive insight into this uncanny and still surrealistic world of designed robotic futures and new human paradigms.

Learn about and experience ancient Automata from Egypt, Greece, and Japan - robot predecessors, and the first Arab robot.

In addition, the exhibition ’Design of Emotion’ will conduct collaborative and interactive research through visitor participation and a series of conversations. 

EAST - EAST: 2020, Vol 3

October 18 - 11 November 2017

Opening reception

7pm | October 18th, 2017 with curator and artist-led tours 

CHI-KA is pleased to announce the opening of ‘EAST-EAST: 2020, Vol.3’, the third edition of the EAST-EAST exhibition series which aims to explore invisible bridges and links between the UAE and Japan through the works of emerging artists. Curated by Sophie Mayuko Arni, this edition’s theme is 2020, the coinciding year of Dubai Expo and Tokyo Olympics.

In a wave of ambitious projects for brighter and better futures, 2020 stands as a catalyst for megalithic urban development and social high tide for both Dubai and Tokyo. 2020 will be the year that Dubai and Tokyo shine under global spotlight, welcoming millions of curious visitors. 2020 marks the celebration of a vision and master plan realized. 2020 stands as a cultural model: a race to a more efficient, sustainable, convenient,

technologically advanced, happier future. Moreover, Dubai and Tokyo’s upcoming events will inspire global collaborative agendas and promote inclusiveness in a world that is gradually retracting in ethnic divides.

For EAST-EAST: 2020, Vol.3, curator Arni places the two cultures side by side, UAE and Japan, both preparing for their ‘big moment’. She raises the idea of ‘Gulf Futurism’, a term coined by Qatari- American artist Sophia Al Maria, which examines this state of permanently looking ahead, relating particularly to the Gulf sates, while expressing concern over the social and environmental costs of hyper-development. Essentially, Gulf Futurism warns us of a potentially displaced global future.

(read more)

‘COLOUR CODE #KIMONO’ 

MAR 13 - APR 13, 2017

Opening reception March 13th, 2017  |  6-10PM

A contemporary tea ceremony will be held at CHI-KA on the evening, surrounded by a plethora of exquisite kimonos in all gradient colours.

Every culture has its own sense of color, and Japan is no exception. From prehistoric times to the present day, the Japanese have developed their own collection of traditional colors, known as dentouiro, which are still recognized and used today. Their use in textiles such as kimono is one of the most notable.

Colours displayed in kimono are not random. They have been cautiously selected in creating an expressive work of art that is the kimono. 

Purple, for example, is a metaphor for undying love, the imagery deriving from the fact that gromwell (murasaki), the plant used to create the dye, has very long roots. The exhibition 'Colour Code #Kimono' dives deep into the depths of these delicate colours, exploring their strong metaphorical and cultural meanings, cosmological dimensions and poetic significance. 

The opening of ‘COLOUR CODE #KIMONO’ coincides with ‘Galleries Night’ at Alserkal Avenue on March 13th, between 6-10pm. The evening marks the opening of exhibitions, artist commissions and pop-up projects taking place across the Avenue through Art Week. 

‘NEW JAPAN PHOTO - ISSUE 3’ 

JAN 27 - FEB 27, 2017

Opening reception January 27th, 2017  |  7PM

With performances in Japanese Taiko drumming and contemporary dance (more info)

Held in collaboration with edgy Tokyo-based Einstein Studio, CHI-KA presents the opening of 'New Japan Photo - Issue 3'. Showing for the first time in Dubai, the exhibition features award-winning young Japanese photographers leaving a mark on the contemporary fine art photography scene in Tokyo and beyond. They are recipients of the prestigious Japan Photo Award; currently the largest photography award in Japan, held biannually and involving over 3000 participants.

The opening of the exhibition coincides with Alserkal Avenue’s ‘Quoz Arts Fest‘ (Jan 27, 2017). ‘New Japan Photo - Issue 3’ is also a part of GPP Photo Week 2017 (Feb 10-17, 2017) - MENA's longest-running international photography festival, organised by Gulf Photo Plus. 

EAST - EAST: UAE meets Japan Vol 2

13 - 30 November 2016

Additional info about Artists/Curator/Space 

'EAST-EAST: UAE meets Japan Vol 2', an exhibition that explores ways young voices of the Emirati art scene choose to regard cross-cultural contact with the arts of Japan. It aims to draw parallels between Japanese and Emirati culture as both traditional societies move rapidly into our postmodern age and strive to keep a balance between heritage and futurism.

'EAST-EAST: UAE meets Japan Vol 2' is curated by Sophie Mayuko Arni and coproduced by NYU Abu Dhabi.

CRAFT FUTURES  

23 - 29 October 2016

CHI-KA teams up with world renowned trend forecasting agency Edelkoort Arabia, presenting a window into the future of craft. The public is invited to view craft-infused Japanese kimonos, and browse through Edelkoort's coveted trend books. These handmade, highly tactile books address societal changes expressed in sensory experiences. They are valuable tools for strategists, designers and future enthusiasts. 

EXHIBITION

23 October 2016  | 10:00 - 21:00

24 - 29 October 2016 |  10:00 - 19:00

PANEL DISCUSSION

29 October 2016 - 4 PM | Nadi Al Quoz space in Alserkal Avenue